About BF Homes Parañaque

BF Homes Parañaque is a Subdivision in the Philippines which covers three different cities. These are Parañaque, Muntinlupa, and Las Pinas. The BF Homes Parañaque project was an idea that was originally built and conceived by Tomas Aguirre way back in 1968. The project became fully operational in 1970 and has grown rapidly ever since. At the time of writing, BF Homes is currently the largest subdivision in Asia. It is likely to hold that title for some time yet too.

Background history

The history of the development can be traced back to 1964. Tomas Aguirre was part of the family which owned the Agencia de Empenos de Aguirre pawnshop. As a result they were quite a wealthy family. Tomas decided to start up his own business and founded Banco Filipino using the money that had been earned through the family business. Very quickly (within 2 years in fact), this bank was one of the largest in the Philippines. At this point Aguirre decided that he needed to maximize his profits even further. He decided to kick into action phase two of his plan and start to look into the idea of land development. BF Homes Incorporated was formed as a result.

Right from the start, Aguirre had his heart set on development to the south of Manila. This is because he thought it would be a rather tranquil location and figured that people would rather remain outside of the busy streets of the city whilst at the same time still being close enough to shop, get work and get educated within Manila. After searching around for land for a short while, he managed to stumble across 765 hectares of agricultural land. He snapped it up quite quickly using the money that he earned from his bank. This first purchase was regarded as the southern branch of BF homes. The Las Pinas development was referred to as ‘Las Pinas BF Homes’ whilst the combined Paranaque and Muntinlupa regions came under the title ‘Paranaque BF Homes’. The former development was broken down even further into BF Resort, BF Almanza and Pillar Village. Property started to go up for sale in 1968 and very quickly started to be snapped up.

During the 1970s, Las Pinas BF Homes was renamed BF Homes International. Throughout Manila and the rest of the Philippines, this development was regarded as one of the best to live. This was in part down to the fact that it was one of the first gated communities in the area which had everything that a resident needed without having to step outside of the gates. This included a bowling alley, commercial district, movie theater, supermarkets, and a few extra facilities. This included two hotels which had been opened by Anthony Aguirre, Tomas’ son.
In 1978, the Paranaque area of the development was brought into alliance with the various subdivisions that surrounded it by order of President Ferdinand Marcos. A this point the developed was renamed Barangay BF Homes.

In the 1980s though, BF Homes went through a bit of a downturn. This was due to problems between Tomas Aguirre and Ferdinand Marcos. In 1985 Banco Filipino ceased to be. The reason was insolvency. This caused BF Homes International to suffer from a number of problems. The Aguirre headed on over to the United States. Problems continued to hit the area with the Tropical Palace, one of the most popular destinations for residents in the area burned down mysteriously. A hotel in the area was also mysteriously damaged by fire. At this point, the ownership and operation of BF Homes was transferred away from BF Homes International to the residents. BFHI still retains a share of the subdivision, but it has very little say in the day to day operations.

As soon as the residents started to take over the area, large changes started to occur. This included changes to the street. Each of the areas in the development, each run by a different association, to be physically split up by fences. This result in 82 different areas within the development.
Demography

At the start, BF Homes was originally conceived as a place to live for middle class Filipino Families. This is something which it still does to this very day. However, now the area is also famed for the amount of South Koreans living here, with every sixth property occupied by a Korean business.

Municipal services

In the early stages, this was a gated community. However, this changed in September 2005 when it was ordered that the gates needed to be open to make it easier for motorists to travel through the area. This lead to an increase in crime in the area quite quickly with the foulest crime happening in 2006 which left a student dead.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues that BF Homes has had to face over the years is its water supply. In 2002, water supplier Maynilad cut off the water flowing into Philippine Waterworks Construction Corporation due yo unpaid debts.

Business and economy
BF Homes Paranaque is regarded as one of the top ‘food hubs’ in Metro Manila with a number of food options being offered throughout the region.